(Dunham recently got a reported $3.5million deal to write a memoir and advice book for twentysomething women.)

One of the most common experiences of creative people is anxiety. Psychotherapist and mystery author Dennis Palumbo notes that famed psychiatrist Rollo May “reminded us, real creativity is not possible without anxiety. In many ways, it’s the price of admission to the artist’s life.”

Palumbo adds, “Which means, for those artists who have the courage to embrace their own fears, to co-exist with potentially crippling anxiety and create anyway, the rewards can be significant. Consider artists as diverse as Woody Allen and Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King and James L. Brooks, Anne Rice and Phillip Roth, Richard Pryor and Diane Arbus.

“They use who they are—all of who they are—as the wellspring of their creativity. Just as it is for yours.”

Dr. Daniels is a writer and clinical psychologist. She “dropped out of high school at 16 and spent five years in psychiatric hospitals in treatment for severe anorexia nervosa. In 1956, less than a year after her release, a novel she had written in the hospital, Caleb, My Son, was published by Lippincott and became a best seller.”

That profile is from the site of her Lucy Daniels Foundation, a “private, nonprofit organization that fosters personal development, emotional freedom and a deeper understanding of creativity through education, outreach, and psychoanalytic treatment and research programs.”

Painter Gayle Stott Lowry creates “Allegorical Oil Paintings With Focus on Light” according to her site, where you can see many examples.

In her biography on the Tyndall Galleries site, she makes a statement many artists can relate to: “Creating my artwork is a very introspective process for me. It is my way of dealing with what is invisible and making it real. It is my means of seeking truth and clarity.

“Although my work, like most creative work, could be seen as autobiographical, it also is reflective of this time in our existence and the issues we all face. My best paintings encourage the viewers to confront something within themselves and consider alternative points of view.”

Lowry also writes candidly on the Lucy Daniels Foundation site about her mental health challenges impacting her creative expression: “A few years ago, my pain became so unbearable that I was no longer able to contain it and maintain a facade in my personal life or in my work.”

Douglas Eby, MA/Psychology - I am a writer and researcher on psychology and personal development related to creativity; creator of the Talent Development Resources series of sites, and author of the book "Developing Multiple Talents: The personal side of creative expression" and others - see my Résumé.